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Comparing Dellin Betances and Wade Davis: The Two Best Set-up Men in Baseball

Two of the most dominant relievers and set-up men in the game are Wade Davis and Dellin Betances. Wade Davis was one of the reasons why the Royals made it all the way to Game 7 of the World Series in 2014. He’s also the best reliever on the Royals this year. Dellin Betances has been essential to the Yankees, pitching the most out of the pen and being completely dominant. Using major statistics, I compare Davis and Betances to find out who is truly the more dominant set-up man. All stats were retrieved from ESPN and are accurate as of Sunday, August 2, 2015.

Category/Pitcher

Betances (NYY)

Davis (KC)

Appearances

48

46

Record

6-2

7-1

Holds

16

16

Save/Save
Opportunities

7/10

9/10

Innings Pitched

54.2

44.2

Earned Runs Allowed

8

3

HRs Allowed

2

1

WHIP

0.82

0.81

ERA

1.32

0.60

Strikeouts

87

50

Strikeout/9 IP

14.32

10.07

Walks

23

13

Strikeout/Walk

3.78

3.85

Opponent Batting Avg

.120

.148

Opponent Slugging

.174

.232

Opponent On Base
Percentage

.224

.214

Opponent Batting Avg
with None On

.120 (12-100. 12 BB)

.172 (17-99, 8 BB)

Opponent Batting Avg
with Runners On

.119 (10-84, 11 BB)

.107 (6-56, 5 BB)

Opponent Batting Avg
with RISP

.127 (7-55, 8 BB)

.135 (5-37, 3 BB)

Opponent with Bases
Loaded

.167 (1-6, 1 BB)

.000 (0-5, 0 BB)

Opponent with RISP,
2 Out

.038 (1-26, 5 BB)

.100 (2-20, 1 BB)

Opponent’s Batting
Avg After 0-1 Count

.077 (8-104, 5 BB)

.114 (9-79, 3 BB)

Opponent’s Batting
Avg After 0-2 Count

.056 (3-54, 1 BB)

.176 (6-34, 2 BB)

Opponent’s Batting
Avg After 2-0 Count

.227 (5-22, 11 BB)

.095 (2-21, 6 BB)

Opponent’s Batting
Avg After 3-0 Count

.333 (1-3, 8 BB)

.000 (0-5, 4 BB)

Opponent’s Batting
Avg At 3-2 Count

.150 (3-20, 15 BB)

.211 (4-19, 9 BB)

Batting Average of
Left Handed Batters

.111 (9-81, 10 BB)

.138 (12-87, 9 BB)

Batting Average of
Right Handed Batters

.126 (13-103, 13 BB)

.162 (11-68, 4 BB)

How ridiculously equal
are Davis and Betances in terms of statistics?

●Both set-up men have the same number of holds.

●Betances strikes out more batters but Davis walks less.

●Betances has the higher K/9 IP ratio but Davis has a higher K/BB
ratio.

●Left handed batters have a lower batting average against both
Betances and Davis than right handed batters do.

CONCLUSION

It was extremely difficult to pick out who the
dominant set-up man is. In situations with a blank slate and no runners on,
Betances performs better. However, when runners reach base, Davis does a better
job of getting out of the jam. Betances also does better when he gets ahead but
Davis does a better job of recovering after falling behind. Betances has
allowed 1 hit all year when there are RISP with 2 out while Davis has allowed 2
hits. Betances strikes out more but Davis walks less. If I had both Betances and Davis on the same team, I would send
Betances out to start an inning and Davis out when there are runners on.
Additionally, when outs are the absolute necessity, I would send out Davis.
However, when there is a power hitter such as Mike Trout or Giancarlo Stanton,
I’d send out Betances with his 95+ mph fastball and knuckle curve. Both
pitchers are extremely dominant and are major assets to each team. Good luck to
both as they finish off the year. Go Yankees!

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